Six dead 23 injured in fire at Mumbai high-rise
Mumbai Jan 22 PTI At least six persons were killed and 23 others injured in a major fire that broke out on the 19th floor of a residential building in Tardeo area of central Mumbai on Saturday morning officials saidThe blaze erupted around 7 am at Sachinam Heights a ground-plus-20-storey building located opposite Bhatia Hospital at Gowalia Tank when many of the residents were still asleep an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC saidPrime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident and announced on Twitter that ex-gratia assistance of Rs 2 lakh would be provided to the family members of each deceased from the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund PMNRF and the injured would be given Rs 50000 eachMaharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray who is also the guardian minister of Mumbai suburban district visited the site and said the state government will provide a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family members of each deceasedThe blaze appeared to have been caused by a short-circuit he saidCongress leader Rahul Gandhi also condoled the deaths and urged party workers to provide assistance to the affected familiesSome residents of the building alleged that three nearby private hospitals refused to admit injured persons without advance deposit payment and negative COVID-19 certificatesBJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis alleged that due to these hospitals turning away the victims the death toll increasedThe fire broke out on the 19th floor On being alerted the fire brigade personnel and police rushed the spot Several persons were rescued Twenty-nine of them were taken to different hospitals as some had suffered injuries while others complained of health problems like suffocation said a BMC officialSeven persons were taken to the BMC-run Nair Hospital and five of them died while one more succumbed at the civic-run Kasturba Hospital he saidSeventeen injured persons were admitted to Bhatia Hospital and 12 of them were in critical condition he said Others were taken to Masina Hospital Wockhardt Hospital and H N Reliance HospitalAs many as 13 fire engines and seven water jetties were rushed to the building when the first reports came the BMC official saidThe fire categorized as level-3 major was extinguished by 1220 pm he saidThere are at least six flats on each floor Soon after the fire broke out several residents ran out The blaze engulfed the floor and some persons got trapped inside another official saidPrashant Gaikwad assistant municipal commissioner of the D-ward where the building is located said it had been given occupation certificate in 2015 Only one of its two wings was occupied he saidIn a tweet PM Modi said Saddened by the building fire at Tardeo in Mumbai Condolences to the bereaved families and prayers with the injured for the speedy recovery Minister Aaditya Thackeray said on Twitter that there were reports about two hospitals refusing treatment but the hospital authorities told him that they did admit and treat some of those injuredShort-circuit was the apparent cause of the fire and the building has been evacuated completely he saidIn a social media post Fadnavis said he was shocked and anguished to know that some nearby hospitals refused admission to the injured persons which resulted into more deaths If this was true action must be taken against those who are responsible he saidSome residents said they heard a loud sound followed by black smoke and recalled the frenzy to get outA 50-year-old woman who lives on the fifth floor said I heard some noise like firecrackers and realised that something is wrong As we were all scared I fell down twice while helping my husband to climb down the staircase I dont recall how I reached the open area Another resident of the building said the power went off and there was a melee of those trying to get out during which many senior citizens were injuredA woman of the fourth floor said there was a fat-fat sound outside a cabin which presumably housed the AC compressorA resident of the neighbouring Matrumandir building attributed the blaze to an AC compressor explosion Many of the rescued persons were shifted to Mathrumandir and provided first aid and snacksLocal corporator Meenal Patel told PTI that the land on which the building stands was earlier occupied by a residential colony called Patilwadi and its residents later got flats in the high-riseMumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar told reporters that residents told minister Aaditya Thackeray that they suffered mostly because of the smokeThe BMC would arrange training for residents of such buildings as to how to douse fire and the protocol to be followed when a fire breaks out she saidConsidering the growing number of such incidents electricity supply systems in buildings should be checked every six months and the BMC will take steps for this Pednekar said PTI DC ND MR KK NP VT KRK KRK KRK
Mumbai Jan 22 PTI At least six persons were killed and 23 others injured in a major fire that broke out on the 19th floor of a residential building in Tardeo area of central Mumbai on Saturday morning officials saidThe blaze erupted around 7 am at Sachinam Heights a ground-plus-20-storey building located opposite Bhatia Hospital at Gowalia Tank when many of the residents were still asleep an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC saidPrime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident and announced on Twitter that ex-gratia assistance of Rs 2 lakh would be provided to the family members of each deceased from the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund PMNRF and the injured would be given Rs 50000 eachMaharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray who is also the guardian minister of Mumbai suburban district visited the site and said the state government will provide a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family members of each deceasedThe blaze appeared to have been caused by a short-circuit he saidCongress leader Rahul Gandhi also condoled the deaths and urged party workers to provide assistance to the affected familiesSome residents of the building alleged that three nearby private hospitals refused to admit injured persons without advance deposit payment and negative COVID-19 certificatesBJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis alleged that due to these hospitals turning away the victims the death toll increasedThe fire broke out on the 19th floor On being alerted the fire brigade personnel and police rushed the spot Several persons were rescued Twenty-nine of them were taken to different hospitals as some had suffered injuries while others complained of health problems like suffocation said a BMC officialSeven persons were taken to the BMC-run Nair Hospital and five of them died while one more succumbed at the civic-run Kasturba Hospital he saidSeventeen injured persons were admitted to Bhatia Hospital and 12 of them were in critical condition he said Others were taken to Masina Hospital Wockhardt Hospital and H N Reliance HospitalAs many as 13 fire engines and seven water jetties were rushed to the building when the first reports came the BMC official saidThe fire categorized as level-3 major was extinguished by 1220 pm he saidThere are at least six flats on each floor Soon after the fire broke out several residents ran out The blaze engulfed the floor and some persons got trapped inside another official saidPrashant Gaikwad assistant municipal commissioner of the D-ward where the building is located said it had been given occupation certificate in 2015 Only one of its two wings was occupied he saidIn a tweet PM Modi said Saddened by the building fire at Tardeo in Mumbai Condolences to the bereaved families and prayers with the injured for the speedy recovery Minister Aaditya Thackeray said on Twitter that there were reports about two hospitals refusing treatment but the hospital authorities told him that they did admit and treat some of those injuredShort-circuit was the apparent cause of the fire and the building has been evacuated completely he saidIn a social media post Fadnavis said he was shocked and anguished to know that some nearby hospitals refused admission to the injured persons which resulted into more deaths If this was true action must be taken against those who are responsible he saidSome residents said they heard a loud sound followed by black smoke and recalled the frenzy to get outA 50-year-old woman who lives on the fifth floor said I heard some noise like firecrackers and realised that something is wrong As we were all scared I fell down twice while helping my husband to climb down the staircase I dont recall how I reached the open area Another resident of the building said the power went off and there was a melee of those trying to get out during which many senior citizens were injuredA woman of the fourth floor said there was a fat-fat sound outside a cabin which presumably housed the AC compressorA resident of the neighbouring Matrumandir building attributed the blaze to an AC compressor explosion Many of the rescued persons were shifted to Mathrumandir and provided first aid and snacksLocal corporator Meenal Patel told PTI that the land on which the building stands was earlier occupied by a residential colony called Patilwadi and its residents later got flats in the high-riseMumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar told reporters that residents told minister Aaditya Thackeray that they suffered mostly because of the smokeThe BMC would arrange training for residents of such buildings as to how to douse fire and the protocol to be followed when a fire breaks out she saidConsidering the growing number of such incidents electricity supply systems in buildings should be checked every six months and the BMC will take steps for this Pednekar said PTI DC ND MR KK NP VT KRK KRK KRK
